On Tuesday, January 6, Ariana Grande celebrated “five and a half years with G” as she reflected on her monumental “Wicked” role as Glinda. “Bubble things,” she wrote alongside a jam-packed Instagram Carousel of photos and videos showing behind-the-scenes moments from the film.
The third photo of the slideshow features an emotional mirror selfie. In it, the pop princess holds a sucker in her mouth and wears a glum expression as she gives a thumbs-up while a tear rolls down her face.
This is not the first time Grande has been seen crying during her “Wicked” era. Evie Magazine shared a TikTok compilation of the “Dangerous Woman” singer’s most emotional moments while doing press for the film with her costar, Cynthia Erivo.
Ariana Grande Previously Told NPR What ‘Wicked’ Means to Her
In a February 2025 NPR interview, Grande opened up about the challenging side of her role as Glinda, and how eager she was to impress director Jon Chu. In fact, the actress admitted she felt like she had “everything working against me” when it came to the part. She explained, “I genuinely felt like I had so much to prove so that I could earn the possibility, like earn the openness from Jon, from the casting directors, from the producers to maybe see a possible chance that I could disappear into this person.”
The 32-year-old went on, “I know what’s required of Glinda. I know she’s funny. I know it’s high notes, and I know that maybe some people who don’t know her well enough would think that I’m the perfect fit. But that’s just kind of scratching the surface.”
She also called the role “a massive undertaking” and emphasized how she feels she has to “earn this.” She described the layers of Glinda’s character, saying the witch is “so reliant upon external validation and the popularity and how important that is to her,” and said the arc from Part I to Part II “requires a lot.”
Ariana Grande Spent Time With Ethan Slater Over the Holidays
Over the Christmas holidays, Grande spent time with her “Wicked” costar Ethan Slater, who plays the role of Boq. Boq is a munchkin who falls in love with Glinda before transforming into the Tin Man.
On December 26, the “Sponge Bob” Broadway star showed Grande in his Instagram Stories, captioning a photo of the starlet playing with a dog “Very merry holidays.”
Last year, Grande seemed to respond to the media scrutiny her closeness with the 33-year-old has caused. She told Zach Sang, “We selectively remember that this is what the tabloids do to people, especially women, based on whether or not we like the person.
